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Geolens

Glossary

417 words used in the labs.

Find a term from the labs, understand the process behind it, and see how it appears in the landscape. Each entry connects an explanation with a real observation and a model you can explore.

Term

Constructive wave

A classroom description of waves that tend to build a beach because swash carries more sediment landward than backwash removes. Whether a beach actually grows also depends on sediment supply, slope and changing conditions over the whole wave cycle.

What to look for

Wave breaking at Porto Covo, Portugal. Whether waves build or erode this beach depends on the balance of swash, backwash and sediment transport over time; a single breaking crest cannot establish that balance.

Related labs

Coasts →
A breaking wave curls and foams along the coast at Porto Covo, Portugal.
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Explore further with USGS water glossary · USGS volcano glossary · NPS glacial geology · NASA Earth facts. Photograph acknowledgements are collected on the Image credits page.